Sunday, February 9, 2014

Literacy: Spanning the U.S.

Kenneth
Baker, 49, passed the writing portion of the General Education Development
(GED) Test—the last section he needed—in December after getting tutoring at the
Sacramento Public Library. On January 1, the GED changed over to a new
computerized format, and any sections people had already passed no longer
counted. We recently sat down with Kenneth and his tutor, Peggy Watral.

So
you never finished high school?

Kenneth
Baker: I dropped out in the 10th grade to help my mom. She was a single parent
for me and my brother. Coming from the streets of Miami, school was the last
thing on my mind. I’m a construction worker.

So
you’d already passed everything but the writing section?

KB:
I would have thought the writing would be easier than the math and science, but
they failed me. I just knew that this time I had to do it or I had to go back
and do the whole test over. Everybody was trying to get into a test in time. I
got lucky and I got a spot.

Peggy
got me through. When I first came in, there was no way I could write an essay.
Before, it was people saying it was easy but not showing me how to do it.

She
broke it down for me. Through all the years, all I learned was there are five
parts, your beginning, three body paragraphs and a conclusion. I just didn’t
know how to get started. Once I got the format broken down, now I see it’s easy
as they say it is. All through the Thanksgiving holidays, I just took the time
and wrote different essays, over and over.

It’s
just something I wanted to do. I’ve never been to a prom. I didn’t get to
graduate. I wanted my mom to see me graduate, but she passed away about three
years ago. It’s tough stuffing 12 years (of school) into a couple years.

Peggy
Watral: I was waiting in line to go to a movie when I got the call from Kenneth
(that he’d passed). I was weeping, I was just so excited. It had to be the best
present I got this year. (To Kenneth) What do you plan to do now?

KB:
Get my doctorate (laughs)! I’m just glad I got it out of the way. I’m proud of
myself. I’m happy. (To Peggy) You’re just a blessing from God. READ MORE !

Gloria
Velez kept hearing from co-workers at the Waukegan assembly plant where she
works that she had to get her GED.

“What’s
a GED?” the recent immigrant from Colombia wondered.

In
one visit last year to the Waukegan Public Library, Velez, 47, the mother of a
teenage son, learned that the high school equivalency diploma meant better
prospects. She quickly enrolled in the library’s Spanish GED preparation course
and within six weeks, she had passed all five GED subject exams in addition to
a test on the U.S. government.

How
did she do it?

“The
instructors, my commitment and a desire to keep learning,” said Velez through a
translator.

In
her pre-GED life, Velez would have been satisfied with a job as a personal
assistant. But now she intends to pursue a bachelor’s degree in social work.
She is also volunteering as a Waukegan library “promotoras ambassador” or
outreach worker.

“The
work the library is doing to put people on the path to literacy is my passion,”
said Velez, who recruited her sister, who has lived in the U.S. for many years,
and six co-workers for Spanish GED.

Thirty-two
Spanish speakers earned a GED after studying at the library last year. Another
37, of the 98 enrolled in 2013, passed at least three of the required exams.
Nearly 100 people were placed on a waiting list. READ MORE !

A
teacher points to three rudimentary sentences, and 14 students recite.

“Hello,”
they say in unison, “My name is Sam.”

They
read the next sentence, “What’s your name?”

The
conversation continues. The classroom, identified by a sign outside its door as
Level 1 English, is in a former Catholic elementary school.

The
14 students, however, are adults enrolled in the English as a second language
classes now offered by the Independence School District — in northeast Kansas
City.

Since
July, the district has been offering adult education and literacy instruction
inside the former Assumption Catholic Church parish school, now part of the St.
Anthony Church complex at 309 Benton Blvd.

This
marks the first time the program has ventured into Kansas City, following 20
years of adult instruction across Independence and at one site in Lee’s Summit. READ MORE !